A rich friend of mine got a new and pretty tuned Ford Mustang for his 18th birthday and though I usually don't care about cars and I know that on an intellectual level, two 18 year olds who justed started driving in doing 250 on the Autobahn is retarded, I utterly enjoyed the night.

There was something about the speed and the noise of the car that really lets you appreciate all the technology and science that went into expensive cars.

€: Also, your next one should be about Brot and Brötchen.
It's impossible to find decent non-German Brötchen basically anywhere in the world.

ecstatica

United States542 Posts

July 16 2012 02:16 GMT

#82

I saw this 'end of speed limits' sign before in Belarus, Id assume it exists in many countries of former USSR but obviously is very rare and only applies to short distances. You dont want to try doing 250 in Russia given their road conditions lol.

Loved the blog, German quality right here.

Wasteweiser

Canada522 Posts

July 16 2012 02:43 GMT

#83

German car pride definitly echoes like crazy in my family, the net worth of our cars far outweigh how much our own house is worth lol.. Also my family has never been known to follow the speed limit anywhere in germany and modded their cars like crazy (my uncle literally removes everything he doesnt need in a car for making it lightweight, even the radio, makes for a very uncomfortable ride haha) Despite all that they've never been in accidents ever. Never driven on the autobahn myself but hopefully I get to eventually and it remains pure to its no speed limit roots, because if it really does live up to being very safe whats the harm keep it that way.

tdt

United States3179 Posts

July 16 2012 03:07 GMT

#84

A couple years ago I flew into Stuttgart to visit my oma/opa who lives in a small village outside of Ulm.. anyway I was seriously dejected that I rented like a 335i and it was 120km the whole way.

Talk about a waste of money..should have got a jetta.

If you want no speed limits Saudi is the place to be. My dad worked there so we lived there in the 1990s and you could litterally get up to 260km because roads connecting cities are straight and flat.

ranshaked

United States870 Posts

July 16 2012 03:22 GMT

#85

Man, I'd love to drive on the autobahn. The fastest I've driven is 130mphwhich is close to 220kmph in my 09 corolla. I had it maxed out. It's dangerous at that speed. Thecar shakes and meh. This was when I got the car in 09 though.

The fastest I've been in a car is 260kmph or around 160mph. Fml so scary

GenesisX

Canada4267 Posts

July 16 2012 05:26 GMT

#86

Huh. Thought the accident rate would be much higher than that. I guess higher speeds =/= more accidents? Guess this proves slow driving is dangerous too lolol

hns

Germany609 Posts

July 16 2012 07:02 GMT

#87

I personally love the Autobahn, but in comparison to driving e.g. in France on their Autoroute (speed limit of 130km/h, very few entries/exits and quite some toll on it, very limited traffic if you don't happen to be in the vincinity of one of the bigger cities, especially compared to Germany) it is really much much more stressfull to drive in Germany. That's for one not only because it tires you much more to go that fast yourself (stress level much higher), but even more so because you have to be really really careful to e.g. not go over to the left lane when there's some guy approaching with >200km/h, even if you yourself are going >160 km/h or something. The margin of error at such speeds is very small. Also, it can be very frustrating if you have a car which simply isn't able to go as fast, because you ultimately will be bullied in some way if you happen to take over some truck or something and block some guy who wants to go lol250km/h.

That's why I would prefer having "interactive" speed limit shields like these:
[image loading]

for basically everywhere on the Autobahn. If there's some traffic/danger, don't let people drive too fast; if there's no traffic just let them go as they want (at nights especially). That'd be perfect for me. We already have quite a few passages with these adaptive shields, I'd really love them everywhere.

Sorry, didn't want to be a partypooper here, going fast is great and I like it myself, but there's certain issues to it in my eyes..

Cedstick

Canada3336 Posts

July 16 2012 08:10 GMT

#88

Oh, so this is what you do.

Cool video, sick to hear moderat. Big ups on the music choice.

Rimstalker

Germany734 Posts

July 16 2012 09:15 GMT

#89

On July 16 2012 16:02 hns wrote:
I personally love the Autobahn, but in comparison to driving e.g. in France on their Autoroute (speed limit of 130km/h, very few entries/exits and quite some toll on it, very limited traffic if you don't happen to be in the vincinity of one of the bigger cities, especially compared to Germany) it is really much much more stressfull to drive in Germany. That's for one not only because it tires you much more to go that fast yourself (stress level much higher), but even more so because you have to be really really careful to e.g. not go over to the left lane when there's some guy approaching with >200km/h, even if you yourself are going >160 km/h or something. The margin of error at such speeds is very small. Also, it can be very frustrating if you have a car which simply isn't able to go as fast, because you ultimately will be bullied in some way if you happen to take over some truck or something and block some guy who wants to go lol250km/h.

Sorry, didn't want to be a partypooper here, going fast is great and I like it myself, but there's certain issues to it in my eyes..

I had the 'joy' of driving on the motorway in Mallorca not long ago. People were driving quite slowly, right hand lane always below 100, left hand lane maybe 110, and it was stressful as hell. Their signage sucks, and people go crazy changing lanes, Autobahn is way more relaxing. Same thing applies for the motorway in Australia - way more stressful than Germany, as everyone is sticking to the speed limit, but NO ONE pays attention to staying left, or leaving enough room between cars.

Maenander

Germany4926 Posts

July 16 2012 11:34 GMT

#90

The numbers speak for themselves really, only a small part of road deaths in Germany happens on the Autobahn (e.g. 602 of 4949 total in the year 2008). A general speed limit is just not necessary.

btx0

Germany184 Posts

July 16 2012 12:39 GMT

#91

You also should mention that if you're involved in an accident doing over 130 km/h the insurance will make you cover up to 1/4 of the costs yourself, unless you prove that the accident would also have happened at 130 km/h (which is almost impossible).

zatic

Zurich15345 Posts

July 19 2012 08:59 GMT

#92

On July 16 2012 01:43 Gecko[Xp] wrote:
On a side note: I really hate people that drive faster than 180 km/h on the Autobahn. That's just careless, don't tell me you could possible react fast enough or keep enough overview to safely slow down before shit happens. And it's fucking scary to watch your mirror just to see these flashes coming closer and closer, starting to tailgate around 150-180 km/h. Uncool.

It's a bit unfair to generalize like that. Yes there are aggressive drivers, but not everyone who drives fast is like that. I love to drive fast but I never, ever flash someone because I have to break. And sure you can safely drive fast. It just depends on conditions and road congestion.

Generally people who drive fast just have to deal with breaking for others. It's a very simple matter of respectful driving. Why should someone at moderate speeds have to break instead of overtaking just because the left lane goes faster. No, as the faster driver you definitely have to accept that you have to break more often, period.

If the boys in the BMWs got that, and everyone was generally more attentive on the Autobahn virtually all safety problems with speed would be gone.

I agree with hns - adaptive speed limits is the way to go. People trying to go 200+ in heavy traffic is what gives fast driving a bad rep: It's unsafe, not faster at all, causes traffic jams, and is a colossal waste of fuel. So I am totally for limiting speed during rush hour. Just carpeting the road with 120 signs though makes it soooo annoying to drive at night, or when there happens to be no traffic. As expensive as it is - adaptive speed limits gogo.

On July 16 2012 03:22 Zudimi wrote:
Nice blog, did you enter the autobahn at Walldorf?
Do you live there?

Yeah that was Walldorf. I don't live there though, it was a Sunday morning and I was driving people home from a night out in Frankfurt.